Background

Richmond International Raceway is a four-turn D-shaped oval track that is 0.75 miles (1.21 km) long.^[3] The track's turns are banked at fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is eight degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, is at only two degrees.^[3] The racetrack has a seating capacity for 94,063 spectators.^[3] Kyle Busch was the defending race winner after winning the event four consecutive times, most recently in 2012.^[4]

Before the race, Jimmie Johnson was leading the Drivers' Championship with 311 points, while Kasey Kahne stood in second with 274 points. Brad Keselowski followed in the third position, nine points ahead of Greg Biffle and ten ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in fourth and fifth. Carl Edwards, with 262, was in sixth, five points ahead of Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer was seven points ahead of Paul Menard and twenty ahead of Jamie McMurray in ninth and tenth, and 23 ahead of Kevin Harvick in eleventh. Aric Almirola completed the first twelve positions with 222 points.^[5]

Entry list

(R) - Denotes rookie driver.

(i) - Denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions were held in preparation for the race; both on Friday, April 26, 2013. The first session lasted for 120 minutes, while second session was 60 minutes long.^[6] During the first practice session, Mark Martin, for the Michael Waltrip Racing team, was quickest ahead of Keselowski in second and Kyle Busch in third.^[7] Matt Kenseth was scored fourth, and Brian Vickers managed fifth.^[7] Harvick, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Bowyer, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.^[7]

Jeff Gordon was quickest in the second and final practice session, ahead of Montoya in second and Vickers in third.^[8] Menard was fourth quickest, and McMurray took fifth.^[8] A. J. Allmendinger, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, Earnhardt Jr., and Edwards followed in the top ten.^[8]

During qualifying, forty-three cars were entered.^[9] Kenseth clinched his second pole position of the season, with a time of 20.716 seconds.^[10] After his qualifying run, Kenseth commented, “It feels great. It’s a great race track. I felt like we were off a little in practice today, and (crew chief) Jason Ratcliff and that whole group there did the things they do for me every week and just made great adjustments. I thought we hit it pretty good there in that lap, had great speed. Thanks to Dollar General, Husky, Home Depot (Kenseth’s sponsors) for sticking with us through all this stuff this week. We’ll get through this ... glad to be on the pole, and looking forward to tomorrow night.”^[11] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Vickers.^[10] Gordon qualified third, Kahne took fourth, and Bowyer started fifth.^[10] Montoya, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Truex Jr., and Mark Martin completed the first ten positions on the grid.^[10]

Qualifying

Race results